Team Columbia's TDU Sqaud

SpaceJunk

Looks pretty strong for a January race:

2009 Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager, Alan Peiper (AUS) and include riders: Andre Greipel (GER), George Hincapie (USA), Michael Rogers (AUS), Bernhard Eisel (AUT), Mark Renshaw (AUS), Greg Henderson (NZ) and Adam Hansen (AUS).


Hincapie v Armstrong - never been on opposing teams before???

DavMartinR

Yea that is a strong team.

It will be good to see how Michael Rogers go's after his illness last year.

Hope George doesn't into the zone and start riding for Lance again by mistake.

richard wants a baum

This is great, last year some w&%&*er reporters that no nothing about cycling said we should dumpt the race because we didnt get the big names to the race. One imparticular said that while he didnt follow the racing year round that he did watch hightlights of the TDF and he knew the whos who of cycling and we werent getting them Boonen, Cancellara etc. Hope this puts that bloke back in his hole.

SpaceJunk

richard wants a baum wrote:

This is great, last year some w&%&*er reporters that no nothing about cycling said we should dumpt the race because we didnt get the big names to the race. One imparticular said that while he didnt follow the racing year round that he did watch hightlights of the TDF and he knew the whos who of cycling and we werent getting them Boonen, Cancellara etc. Hope this puts that bloke back in his hole.

Actually, these reporters were basing their stories on the opinion of the opposition political party here in Adelaide.

The ruling government wont release how much money they invest in the TdU, just that they make in excess of 30 million dollars australian (about 5 euros with our poor conversion rate at the moment ). But the opposition question whether that figure is credible.

My only issues with the race last year was the parcours itself. It lent itself to bunch sprints everyday. But thats understandable considering Mike Turtur (race director) came up with the route 4 months before being accepted as a ProTour race.

Next years' race is a little tougher, and shouldn't see a repeat of Greipel winning stages at will.

richard wants a baum

Good old Hamilton-Smith, the old if the other guys like it then we hate it. Like the City stadium that we just have to have . Your right the race is going to be a hell of alot harder. One thing i would have liked to see was and uphill TT say Norton Summit. One of the DS suggested it last year and i really liked the idea. Cant wait for the race actually reminds me i have to put my registration in for the Challenge ride :shock: with LA coming i bet it will be booked out by christmas.

SpaceJunk

richard wants a baum wrote:

Good old Hamilton-Smith, the old if the other guys like it then we hate it. Like the City stadium that we just have to have . Your right the race is going to be a hell of alot harder. One thing i would have liked to see was and uphill TT say Norton Summit. One of the DS suggested it last year and i really liked the idea. Cant wait for the race actually reminds me i have to put my registration in for the Challenge ride :shock: with LA coming i bet it will be booked out by christmas.

Yeah - I'd get in quick on the challenge ride. They've capped it at 5000 riders for '09. When I registered (last week), it was nearing 4,000.

TT up Nprton Summit Road would be good. At least last year we didn't get the almost traditional 10-12 man breakaway getting 15 minutes.

richard wants a baum

It did get a bit silly when every year the first day a break would narrow the GC contenders down to like 5 riders. Looking forward to closer racing Armstrong will wont to start on a good note Columbia look like they want early success, shame Cav isnt in the team. Will be intrested if the make up doesnt change and what the other teams are going to do. Its not that far away we're almost in december already (where did the year go? felt like last week i was suffering sleep deprivation from the Tour).

winoneday

I wonder how Greipel feels about being selected again. Clearly its a happy hunting ground but does it suggest that he hasn't progressed since last year?

afx237vi

It looks like the team you'd expect for the TDU, really. Four Antipodeans, the reigning champion, plus two more.

Eisel is there for the holiday. Last year he said "I don't really care about the race. I'm just here to train and enjoy the sun," which just about says it all.

andyp

richard wants a baum wrote:

This is great, last year some w&%&*er reporters that no nothing about cycling said we should dumpt the race because we didnt get the big names to the race. One imparticular said that while he didnt follow the racing year round that he did watch hightlights of the TDF and he knew the whos who of cycling and we werent getting them Boonen, Cancellara etc. Hope this puts that bloke back in his hole.

How exactly? That team hardly contains big names does it? Certainly no-one at the Boonen/Cancellara level, i.e. multiple classic winners.

richard wants a baum

andyp wrote:

richard wants a baum wrote:

This is great, last year some w&%&*er reporters that no nothing about cycling said we should dumpt the race because we didnt get the big names to the race. One imparticular said that while he didnt follow the racing year round that he did watch hightlights of the TDF and he knew the whos who of cycling and we werent getting them Boonen, Cancellara etc. Hope this puts that bloke back in his hole.

How exactly? That team hardly contains big names does it? Certainly no-one at the Boonen/Cancellara level, i.e. multiple classic winners.

Big George? And the three Aussies, its a strong team. For a race on the other side of the world it can be hard getting the strongest team possible plus the fact that none of the euro guys care about the race and consider it a training session. But thats the point isnt it, you start small a slowly build it up bit by bit. This is one of those bits. Teams are starting to bring stronger teams

drenkrom

That Columbia line-up is a good cycling team, but it seems primarily like a top-notch PR team to me. You've got the locals, the defending champ and a recognizable figure in George Hincapie (go stand next to him, he ain't that big). They all speak good English as well. Between all of them, I guess a good proportion of post-race interviews will be with the Columbia guys, which is exactly what I'd want if I was a marketing rep for the sponsor. I don't think most ProTour teams really care that much about results in January, but some sponsors would clearly like to take advantage of this one chance at local exposure in Australia. I'd imagine Columbia would be among those sponsors who have something to gain in advertising in Australia, as opposed to Francaise des Jeux or something similar.

And when you get to marketing, Bill Stapleton is the man. It'll be very interesting to see the dynamics in this first real test of the year. And comment on all the new kit, of course.

SpaceJunk

drenkrom wrote:

I don't think most ProTour teams really care that much about results in January, but some sponsors would clearly like to take advantage of this one chance at local exposure in Australia. I'd imagine Columbia would be among those sponsors who have something to gain in advertising in Australia, as opposed to Francaise des Jeux or something similar.

Your comments about results not being significant in January is true, but Team Highroad (as they were known then) certainly hit the ground running in 2008, kickstarted by their TDU success.

I think teams can look to the TDU as almost like phase 2 of their off-season training camps. I must admit that if I was a team director and the South Australian government offered to house my squad in Adelaide for 2 plus weeks, I'd certainly take up their offer.

As for the motives of Team Columbia; their product range is quite well known here in Australia (in Adelaide at least), making them one of the few visiting PT teams with a product we can relate to.

Alex_Simmons/RST

andyp wrote:

richard wants a baum wrote:

This is great, last year some w&%&*er reporters that no nothing about cycling said we should dumpt the race because we didnt get the big names to the race. One imparticular said that while he didnt follow the racing year round that he did watch hightlights of the TDF and he knew the whos who of cycling and we werent getting them Boonen, Cancellara etc. Hope this puts that bloke back in his hole.

How exactly? That team hardly contains big names does it? Certainly no-one at the Boonen/Cancellara level, i.e. multiple classic winners.

A triple world time trial champion and a world scratch race champion is not good enough? We do have high standards.

iainf72

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

A triple world time trial champion and a world scratch race champion is not good enough? We do have high standards.

What has Rogers done lately (since he stopped working with Dr Ferrari)?

andyp

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

A triple world time trial champion and a world scratch race champion is not good enough? We do have high standards.

As Iain has said, ever since Rogers moved out of T-Mobile (and away from Dr Ferrari) he's been making up the numbers. I follow track cycling and even I had to double check who the world scratch race champion on that list was.

The point remains though, the team Columbia is sending is not exactly top draw and certainly doesn't contain any of cyclings 'big names'.

richard wants a baum

andyp wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

A triple world time trial champion and a world scratch race champion is not good enough? We do have high standards.

As Iain has said, ever since Rogers moved out of T-Mobile (and away from Dr Ferrari) he's been making up the numbers. I follow track cycling and even I had to double check who the world scratch race champion on that list was.

The point remains though, the team Columbia is sending is not exactly top draw and certainly doesn't contain any of cyclings 'big names'.

What a load of crap, Rogers was with Rasmussen when he made his move at the TDF 07, and ever since that crash his had some pretty sh*&ty luck. Im not saying its the best of the best and of course theres going to be local lads in the team but have a look at the team make ups in years previous. The standard is on the way up.

Alex_Simmons/RST

iainf72 wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

A triple world time trial champion and a world scratch race champion is not good enough? We do have high standards.

What has Rogers done lately (since he stopped working with Dr Ferrari)?

I thought his performance in the Olympic road race was exceptional, considering he is returning from illness and injury.

Alex_Simmons/RST

andyp wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

A triple world time trial champion and a world scratch race champion is not good enough? We do have high standards.

As Iain has said, ever since Rogers moved out of T-Mobile (and away from Dr Ferrari) he's been making up the numbers. I follow track cycling and even I had to double check who the world scratch race champion on that list was.

The point remains though, the team Columbia is sending is not exactly top draw and certainly doesn't contain any of cyclings 'big names'.

Injuries and illness have been Roger's problems. And as said already, his Olympic result was showing the form is returning.

If you really did follow track cycling you would know how good Greg Henderson is. He is certainly no one hit wonder.

SpaceJunk

Here's the Ag2r squad:

Martin Elmiger (SUI), Sebastien Hinault (FRA), Alexander Efimkin (RUS), Vladimir Efimkin (RUS), Nicholas Roche (IRL), Rene Mandri (EST) and Alexandr Pliuschin (MDA).

Alex_Simmons/RST

I note another TdF winner has joined the list of all the other "sub-standard" riders at this year's TDU.

calvjones

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

I note another TdF winner has joined the list of all the other "sub-standard" riders at this year's TDU.

Not sure what your point is here. OP is pretty cr@p. We need an [irony] tag on here...

richard wants a baum

For a race that is half way around the world Tutur hasnt done to bad considering. The standard goes up every year and thats really all that he needs to do.

Not sure what your point is here. OP is pretty cr@p. We need an [irony] tag on here...

That seems a little harsh, lucky to get the TDF win but still a reasonably solid rider i would have thought, Sanchez will be the one to watch though.

SpaceJunk

Yep, Sanchez should be the one to watch. I wonder whether his English has improved?

Since he one the TdU, the media here always love to talk to him. Poor Neil Stephens has enough on his plate as DS, but he also acts as translator for all his interviews.